The recent $17.1 billion settlement reached by Meta in a social media addiction trial has drawn focus to the potential impact of these platforms on the inner lives of young people. During the landmark trial, a therapist recounted an exchange with a plaintiff named Kaley, who had used social media since the age of six. When asked to describe her 'miracle day', Kaley reportedly responded that she would be 'prettier'.
A psychoanalyst described this response as 'devastating', suggesting it indicated a contraction of the world into a preoccupation with image. This testimony is said to echo experiences with other young patients who struggle to identify what they want from life and are consumed by their appearance.
While discussions have often focused on behavioural outcomes, some experts argue that the public conversation has not adequately addressed the damage to young people's emerging desires and identities. Expert witnesses in the trial explained that social media platforms may hijack the brain's dopamine reward system, specifically the 'Seeking system', which is the drive towards wanting. This exploitation could fix desire on a compulsive object, potentially stripping it of its natural range and spontaneity.
The platforms may also subject children to an 'ever-present observer', making impulses potentially public and subject to assessment. This environment could undermine the development of genuine desire, which some theories suggest requires freedom from an evaluative gaze. The absence of this freedom may lead to the formation of a 'false self', shaped by the reactions of others.